American Idol guys - from 8 to 6

1) Blake Lewis - No clue what song he did (ok, it was "All Mixed Up" by 311... still clueless). I think he's a great performer and has a great voice. He will end up in the top 12. [ok, it turns out that I actually have 311 on my mp3 player. Who knew?]

2) Sanjaya - Ok, so the secret is out. Now we know why Sanjaya was picking the songs he was picking. He STINKS at contemporary stuff. John Mayer??? Come on! Not even close. And he didn't even make it his. And if he was even remotely interested in changing his image, doing the hula dance with that creepy smile on his face was NOT the way to go. And... I'm jealous of his hair. It was gorgeous tonight.

3) Sundance - I'm confused... did he do good or not? I can't tell. At times, he seemed to be doing really well... and then at other times it seemed like somebody was off. Was it him or the backup singers? I'm going to have to run it back and watch it again to be sure. I'll be back with confirmation. [Ok, I just went back and watched again. HE was the one definitely off at times. The backups were a highlight.]

4) Chris Richardson - I wasn't sure for the first 3 seconds of the song... but then he made me a believer. It worried me that he was going with the ballad, but I was excited that he was doing Keith. He made it his own and he made it work. I really, really liked Chris tonight. So far, I'd put him on top.

5) Jared Cotter - Well, well, this preppy little R&B singer. He was definitely PITCHY as heck in places... but when he was on, it was my favorite of all his performances. He seemed like he was losing his breath on the faster parts. He's a cutie, though, and I'll bet he makes it to the top 12.

6) Brandon - I respect Brandon. The fact that he plays classical piano ups the ante. He has fabulous stage presence. He started the song off awesomely. The song was WAY too repetative. But, I hope he gets into the top 12 because I think the best is yet to come from Brandon.

7) Phil Stacey - Can I just get a big ole "Yeehaw!" for Phil wearing a hat tonight? However, it was a weird hat... so I was still a little distracted. As usual, the beginning of his song (a Leeann Rhymes song, no less) was strange. His tone at the beginning sounded a little weird to me. He did good on his belty stuff... but I do not think he did well with his song choice. I will say one thing about Phil: He may have a weird looking head, but I like his sense of humor.

8) Chris Sligh - Ok, so not the best song choice. There were some shining moments, and overall I think he will make it to the top 12. He brought his humor back in the intro - that was good. More humor is needed to keep us from being bored. [I went back and listened to this again - my kids were climbing all over me the first time - and it was much better than I first thought. It was dead-on pitch and nearly flawless. The song choice hurt a little, though.]

Overall, I think the guys were incredibly BORING tonight. Very disappointing. I do hope the gals "bring it" tomorrow night.

Here are my rankings for tonight:

1) Brandon
2) Chris Sligh
3) Chris Richardson
4) Blake Lewis
5) Jared Cotter
6) Sundance
7) Phil Stacey
8) Sanjaya

Truly, I think Brandon could get voted off and give Phil a spot. I don't know why, but I just have that feeling. Brandon's a MUCH better singer, though.